Verona junior Melanie Egan competes in the Essex County Championship for the cross country team.

Egan qualified by finishing ninth overall in the Group 1 Championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Holmdel Park. The Verona star athlete finished with a time of 20 minutes, 28 seconds.

Verona Head Coach Gene Leporati said Egan has worked very hard this season and it was great to see her qualify for the next round.

"She has so many accolades," Leporati said, "but this was the icing on the cake. This was her goal from the beginning of the season and she did it."

Egan's time of 20:28 was three seconds ahead of 10th place runner Alicia Pipkin of Haddon Township. Colette Richter of Mountain Lakes won the race with a time of 18:42.

Leporati said Egan sat in 12th or 13th place with the final few hundred yards in the race left, but "picked it up" while passing enough opponents to earn her spot in the Meet of Champions.

"She's so self-motivated and determined as an athlete," Leporati said of his leading runner. "I kind of admire this in her. She's very unpretentious and takes things in stride. It's great to see that."

The top 10 finishers from the group meet qualify for the Meet of Champions.

Other achievements for Egan this season include coming in first place in the first race of the fall at Branchbrook Park and running a season-best 19:38.1 in the Essex County Championships on Oct. 26.

Six teammates joined Egan in the Group Championship meet while Verona compiled a total time of 1:56:47.

Senior Marybeth Grund earned the next highest finish after Egan, clocking in at 22:53, followed closely by junior Sarah Conboy at 22:56

.The Hillbilly boys also qualified for the championship meet. Senior John Conboy paced Verona with his 65th place finish and time of 18:48. Senior Fernando Padilla and junior Matt Carroll finished back-to-back with times of 19:18 and 19:19, respectively.

Leporati was happy both teams qualified.

"A lot of them had never run at Holmdel before," he said. "It's an eye opener; you have to run it a few times to get the feel. Most of them got the experience that will help them next year."

The cross country teams will wrap up the 2012 season at the Meet of Champions on Wednesday at Holmdel Park. Leporati said the whole team will make the trip to support Egan as she competes in the season's final meet.

Egan's spot at the Meet of Champions was previously earned by Verona's Laura Zaccagnino in the 2007 season.

"This is her meet, her race," the coach said of Egan. "I just want her to have fun and enjoy the moment."